Today I will be giving my last classes at The University of Western Ontario. I will have been here for nearly 40 years. Next year I have a de facto leave, which I will be spending at The University of Regina in Saskatchewan. After that I will officially be retired.
When I took the job here, I was persuaded by arguments from several people that "Western is a good place to have been." For the most part they were correct. I have had some interesting and truly enjoyable colleagues and have remained in touch with students from all the different eras of my life here.
People who know me also know that I have some deep bitterness about the place, which explains why I will not be back. Much of my bitterness flows from the directions taken by the department here; much more, however, flows from mismanagement and poor recognition of all I might have contributed in a different regime. I struggled for decades to contribute to the department, but my contributions (despite high citation counts and four different teaching awards) were not what the department or the university wanted.
Why didn't I leave when the signals became clear? I looked; I was offered other positions; but given my family situation and other aspects of my life, I realized that all things considered, staying was preferable to leaving.
But now it is time to move on.